Calgary office market in North American top 10

The Calgary office market is one of the best in North America with the city making top 10 lists for overall vacancy and space under construction.

The Colliers International Q3 2014 North American Office Report, released Monday, said Calgary’s overall vacancy rate was 8.7 per cent, behind Toronto (6.6 per cent); Montreal (7.3 per cent); Bakersfield, Calif. (7.4 per cent), San Francisco (7.5 per cent), Nashville (7.9 per cent), New York Midtown South Manhattan (8.5 per cent) and Saskatoon (8.7 per cent).

“A healthy economic recovery in the United States across many industry sectors is spurring job creation and in turn is driving demand for office space across North America. This bodes well for Calgary,” said Joe Binfet, managing director of Colliers International in Calgary.

“Canadian markets, and Calgary in particular, continue to dominate the list of North American markets with the lowest vacancy rates.”

The North American vacancy rate was 13.1 per cent — comprised of 13.5 per cent in the United States and 8.4 per cent in Canada.

Binfet said Calgary is also one of the top markets in North America for office space under construction as “developer and investor interest in (the city) continues to show significant strength.”

Calgary and Edmonton are also in the top four in North America for markets with construction as a percentage of existing inventory. San Jose leads at 11.3 per cent followed by Edmonton (8.6), Houston (8.2) and Calgary (7.0).

“Calgary and Edmonton are projected to remain the fastest growing markets in 2014, and based on the Conference Board’s forecast this momentum will continue through to 2018 due to continued growth in the energy sector,” said Binfet.